Mexico Limits are increasing for New Year because Duck numbers are UP! Check out that gator strap holding weight. Robinson’s Custom Leather.

BURRRRR!!!! Where was all this cold weather when it was Duck Season!? Lets make Duck Season Longer. Ducks are everywhere and it’s the middle of March. Let’s put that on the Trump Train. Make Duck Season Longer! The Economics of it speaks volumes. Only the Hard Core Fishermen get out on the water when its blowing a gale. Duck Hunters on the other hand endure those sketchy conditions almost to a fatal fault. Oh well, there is always Mexico, they close their Duck Season at the end of February. Since Mexico has curtailed their issues we are getting back to exploring their unspoiled Natural Resources, ie Dove, Ducks and Quail. If you are interested in Mexico’s generous limits give me a call. We can hook you up on a Wing Shooting Barrel Burner.

Captain Doug Berry and I have been down there on several Hunting and Fishing Trips with Great Success. He also can reassure you the ease of the Trip. Remember Dove Season starts in August and the Calendar is wide open for now.

Spring Break is in full force here on the Middle Coast. Fishing is and has been better than the weather. You just need some good gear. It almost seems the worse the weather the better the Bite. The Pre Frontal Bite is always a good time to plan a trip. Especially this time of year if you are trying to catch a Wall Hanger Trout. Another key to catching Big Trout is wading shallow water. The Big Ones are about to Spawn. It pays to watch the weather and be very flexible when you can book a trip. Many Guides have a list of Customers that can go at a moments notice. If you can be that flexible it pays to visit with your local Guides and get on that list.

Looks like the Guides at the Jetties are still filling Coolers with Redfish, Black Drum and Big Sheephead. I ran out there the other day with Captain Benny and we caught a mess of Sheephead. We used Light Tackle from Anglers Anonymous which makes catching Sheeps a ton of fun. Lil drag screaming session. They eat good too. We were in POC so we filleted em up and took em to Hurricane for an Awesome Lunch.

The next Day I had a Trip and went into the Back Lakes and scored some Redfish. No monster reds, just solid keepers. We drifted with DSL’S and Tops.

We took those fillets to Bubbas Cajun Style Seafood in Seadrift. It’s Great living between 2 fishing towns. Catch em and we’ll Cook em, Bubba says. I don’t know which is the best, Fried, Grilled or Blackened. So I order em all 3 ways. Um Good!

Congrats and hats off to Team Soft Dine who won the Freeze Out. They had a Monster Strap of Fish. None of us were even close to their weight. A 7# plus trout and 8# Red and 2 other solid trout put em at the top. Those guys have some serious knowledge of this area and are a tough Team to beat. Trust me, I share the water with them on a regular basis, they are good. The Freeze Out Tournament Donates proceeds to Port O’ Connor Charities. This year they gave a Big Check to the Port O’Connor School.

We also have to Shout Out to the Castaway Classic Tournament which benefits Castaway Youth Charities in Seadrift. They had a BIG 1st annual turn out. Those Redfish didn’t stand a chance with the heavy hitters that turned out for that Tourney.

Look! The Texas Middle Coast in Calhoun County has great Businesses that give back so much to our youth. So Shop Local and Eat Local as often as you can. Thanks to all the Sponsors on All the Local Tournaments!

The Sun has finally popped out and the wind is below gale force so we are off to scout for fishing holes.

Give Billy Rhyne a call to book the Lodge and your next outdoor outing. 713 907 4796

Stay Safe on your Spring Break, Don’t Drink and Drive, Buckle UP

Captain Jeff Larson
281 217 0399 For Mexico Inquiries call anytime.

Cold water wading results. Bay Flats Lodge

The spring equinox is the moment when winter ends and spring begins, and it occurs on March 20th this year. But don’t let the start of spring fool you when you’re planning your next coastal fishing trip. The early part of spring along the Texas coast often brings with it weather that still fluctuates at times, to include strong and variable winds, chilling rains, and unstable water temperatures. A lot of fishing time this month can typically be spent in the numerous back lake areas, or within the confines of the Victoria Barge Canal or the Intracoastal Waterway, as anglers drop in for some immediate protection from high wind and rough water. Any time you’re forced into these secluded places in March, always keep a watchful eye for the presence of mullet. Any mullet, whatsoever!

Look for the wind to become more of a southeasterly flow rather than northeasterly, which will soon make for increasing tides and greener water. We can also anticipate water temperatures to begin warming, and to continue doing so for the next few months as we progress through spring and into summer. This will mean that it will not be long now before you can start your search for speckled trout along sandy and grassy shorelines just off the main bay systems.

On March days with less wind, setup your morning wading sessions along leeward shorelines located throughout the San Antonio Bay area that can be influenced by the day’s forecasted tide and currents. Start your day by wading mud and grass, and then transition to hard sand, or sand and shell, as the sun reaches high into the sky and the shallows atop the flats begin to warm. While it is important to fish over mud and grass during the cooler parts of the year, learning to accept the slow change from mud to hard sand can often mean the difference between fishing and catching this month.

March is probably one of the most fun months to be out on the water. The bays are once again beginning to come alive with baitfish activity, and the trout are hungry after a long, cold period. If you happen upon some decent fish this month in a private hotspot of yours, there’s a good chance you might be able to stay on those same fish for several days if the conditions are right and things don’t change drastically from one day to the next. Look to enjoy some premium action on top waters, and don’t forget to pack a couple of slow-sinkers also. Have fun, and keep grindin’!

Red Hot Airboat Action
Bay Flats Lodge

March Madness – Capt. Stephen Boriske

Time flies when you are having fun and that’s what has been going on in the middle Texas coast! February is typically our slowest month of the year when it comes to customers booking trips at Bay Flats Lodge for many reasons but I think the main one is cold and rainy weather and the uncertainty it brings with it. Then the secondary reason has to do with this month being like a Tuesday of the work week. February seems to me to be the get-it-done month because the holidays are long gone and tax season is right around the corner and fishing fever with Spring Break coming up will distract your attention so all the pressure to get your work done falls on this one month of the year. Thus we saw a lag this past month which will give way to a frenzy of fishing requests from March on through the year, in fact as I look at my bookings things are filling up fast!

Those who can put all that work aside and join us in February though have been rewarded this year because we have somehow dodged the frozen temperatures that we typically get. Instead we have enjoyed milder cool fronts with less rain than we have been getting during the second half of 2018 which has allowed us more days on the water and less weather cancellations. The fish have been strong too and our guests are bringing home the meat with most outings showing boxes of Black Drum and Redfish limits with occasional solid numbers of Speckled Trout! Overall the past six months have been milder than winters I remember with fewer frozen toes and blistered faces on the books.

We are excited that March has arrived and that fish are already showing Springlike enthusiasm on the bite and in the box. The waters are in good shape and with the warming from the sun and extending hours of daylight, soon Winter will be a faint memory. This week I will enjoy a visit from returning guests for a two day wade fishing trip with lures and I couldn’t be more excited to get out on the water. Since we are fortunate to run trips most every day of the week March through January these past few weeks have given me a much needed break. March ‘madness’ to borrow a term from the cagers is upon us and with the warming trend, the increasing tides, more daylight and a reset button on my body with rest, it’s time to get out there and do work!

Capt. Stephen Boriskie, Bay Flats Lodge, Seadrift, Texas, 888-677-4868

Welcome March! I’m always glad when March rolls around. The threat of the mercury dipping below freezing is pretty much gone, it starts to get warm and stays that way, and the birds start doing their thing. Although we get Daylight Savings Time, March Madness, and St. Patrick’s Day in March, my favorite thing is watching the trickle of migrant birds begin to grow into a steady stream.

I said earlier that the birds start doing their thing in March but that’s not strictly true. Some of the birds started doing their thing back in January. Great Horned Owls, Barn Owls and Barred Owls are already incubating eggs by March and a few shorebirds have started too. Our colleagues down the coast found a Snowy Plover nest on January 25th and we found our first of the season oystercatcher nest on January 31st. Purple Martins starting arriving in late January too and by this time many are already setting up shop in their houses and gourds.

For many birds though, March is a transition month between wintering and migration. Geese, cranes, and waterfowl will head north leaving us for the more suitable breeding latitudes. Early songbird migrants will start arriving along the Texas coast. These include Northern Parula, Yellow-throated Warbler, and Louisiana Waterthrush. These species are usually the first to arrive on the breeding grounds farther north. When I lived in Virginia I really looked forward to hearing my first parula and waterthrush singing. It was a harbinger of spring and all that would follow. Along the coast we don’t get to hear the migrant birds sing much but you don’t have to go very far inland before you can hear many of them singing their hearts out even as they are still migrating north. I guess their hormones are already kicking in.

By the end of March many other species will be arriving too and they will usher in April which brings the most species and biggest numbers of birds migrating across the Texas coast. In late April after most of the songbirds have migrated through, the late species will arrive including Canada Warblers, flycatchers and many of the migratory shorebirds. By the middle of May, most of migration will be over. But it’s only March 1st. We have so much ahead of us in the next few months!

Another reason I like March is the wildflowers. The bluebonnets give us quite a show and my favorite, the Indian Paintbrushes, are already starting to bloom. With all the rain we’ve had this winter, I expect the wild flowers will put on quite a show this spring. There is so much happening in nature in March, you just have to get out and experience some of it!

Sue Heath is the Director of Conservation Research of the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory.  The GCBO is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving the birds and their habitats along the entire Gulf Coast, and beyond into their Central and South America wintering grounds.